Blind
by Nightwingstar
Summary: A brain attack went a step too far...
1. Step Too Far

So I checked my Email today and I was like, OMG! I have an email of a story I just wrote a one-shot of, wait... I haven't even posted it yet... and then I remembered(Duh!) I had written it on future story ideas. So now I'm totally going to tear down the one shot and write a chapter story. It scared me at first 'cause people never actually email me if they wanted the story or not...

Amazing... So this story idea came from A) reading too many mangas and B) I walked around a theme park blind... it was funny, well not until my sister lead me right into a trashcan...

To My Goth Faerie: I know I talked to you last night (morning) but, hi! Having fun in chem? Do you know the Pvnrt equation?

Please Enjoy!

* * *

**_Blind_**

_A brain attack went a step too far…_

* * *

Max was curled up on the forest floor, her hands clutching her head, and her teeth bared obviously biting back a scream. Her skin was whiter than the moon and her face was contorted in pain. 

Iggy sat up as Angel, Gazzy, and Nudge continued to sleep. He glanced at Fang who approaching Max slowly, his long fingers prepared to touch her. Max swatted the hand away before it could reach her, her eyes shooting wide open and tears streaming down her face. She sat up weakly, wiping the tears from her face.

"Fang?" Max's voice croaked out weakly. Where was he? Fang was always beside her during a brain attack. Come to think of it, where was the fire and the moon? "Fang, where are you?" Her voice was frightened.

"Max," Fang's voice was soft but firm, catching Max's attention in a moment, her eyes were wide as she turned to face the direction of the voice. He kneeled before her, grasping her hands. "I'm right here. I'm right in front of you."

"Where?" Max's face turned to confusion and her voice sounded lost. "Are you holding my hand?"

Iggy's clouded blue eyes widened at her question. He stumbled over to Max and Fang, kneeling beside Fang and began talking to Max urgently. "Max, how many fingers am I holding up?" He held up eight fingers, waiting for Max to count them.

"Um, none?"

"Fang, describe her eyes, tell me what her eyes look like." Iggy was shaking beside Fang, his hands pressed firmly in his lap now.

"They're brown but lighter than before and emotionless. They're clouded…" Fang turned to look at Iggy, his eyes widening a few centimeters, "…like yours."

Max laughed bitterly and all the attention went to her. "Go figure, I mean I knew one of these days the brain attacks would get worse than before, who knew it would destroy my sight." She blinked. "I'm not going to go through the stages of denial if you're thinking I am," her blank gaze turned in the direction of Fang, "it's just going to take some time to get used to…"

Max sat silent for a moment, leaning her head against a tree. "Iggy," Iggy lifted her head at the sound of his name, "I'm going to say this ahead of time because I'm an ass when it comes to apologizing, I'm sorry. I'm going to horrible to you while I'm adjusting because I'm going to get frustrated and I'm going to insult you so bad. So I'm sorry." She shifted uncomfortably.

"Tomorrow, lets find a place to call home for the next couple of months, I need to adjust…" said Max as her blank gaze fell on Fang again. Fang nodded before realizing she couldn't see. "I'm guessing you nodded," Max smiled wanly, "but you can't be so silent with me anymore, I won't be able to understand you." She gently pushed away Fang's hands, gazing straight ahead at the sun just barely peeking over the treetops; she didn't know it was already the next day.

"Iggy," Max began after Fang had walked away to grab his pack, Iggy looked in her direction, "what's it like to be blind?"

"Dark, I guess, funny and annoying. But you learn to listen so well and you learn to smell better too, though I don't know how much that'll help you Gasman…" The two laughed in mild bitterness. "So I've got a question for you."

"Shoot."

"How will you lead the flock?" asked Iggy, Max's body stiffened, her jaw tight.

"I-I don't know. I guess Fang will help out or I'll become third in command while you and Fang step up to the plate."

"Why would you want to do that?" asked Fang as he sat down in front of Max.

"You know, we should have a staring contest." Iggy grinned, changing the subject, feeling the slight warmth from the sun. "Max and I, see who can stare into the sun the longest." Max laughed quietly.

"Max, I'm hungry." Nudge's call was faint to the three.

"Ask Iggy." Max called back; Nudge didn't have to know until the last moment, neither did Angel and Gazzy. "Aren't you going to cook something or another?" Max asked Iggy, Iggy sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"S'pose so." Iggy sighed once again, standing up and heading to the campfire. "Bacon fine?"

"Yeah." Max nodded. "It's too soon for jokes." Said Max as she pretended to look at her hands in her lap, she was thinking of the staring contest and how much it hurt to know she was actually blind.

"Is it scary?" asked Fang quietly. Max's blank eyes widened, her head lifting in a second.

"Scary?" repeated Max. Fang nodded and Max caught his head bobbing in the wind. "I-I guess so…" she trailed off, hanging her head once again. "I haven't been blind for long so I guess we'll have to wait to see how it turns out."

"Blind?" asked a small young voice, Max winced knowing her baby read her mind. "Like Iggy?" Max swallowed, a tight lump in her throat made it nearly impossible.

"I need to get away from here." Whispered Max. Fang heard her whispered plead and saw her downcast look, it was weak and unlike her. He grabbed her hand, leaping to his feet, dragging Max up as well.

"Max and I are going for a morning flight." Said Fang as he lifted himself into the air and released his wings, somehow signaling Max to do the same. Fang held her hand as they flew far from the campsite.

"How should I tell them?" asked Max, a worried expression on her face. "How will they take it?" Her expression went blank as her face turned in the direction of Fang, stopping in mid air, just flapping enough to keep her afloat. "How are you taking it?"

"Fine." Replied Fang stiffly.

"Liar." A smirk could be found on her face. "I may be blind but I'm not stupid."

"Then I'm not fine."

"Why aren't you fine?" Max felt herself becoming a psychiatrist. "Why aren't you fine that I'm blind? Is it because I can't lead as properly? Because I can no longer see them grow up? Because I can't see you anymore?" Her voice cracked at the last question, a single tear escaping her sightless eyes.

"No." The reply was sharp and stiff as if Fang was about to burst with words he was trying to keep in.

"Then what?" asked Max, her voice clearly agitated.

"BECAUSE YOU'LL NEVER LOOK BACK!" Shouted Fang. Max's eyes widened at the words. She couldn't see it but he was trembling, trembling so hard that if she saw it she would be amazed Fang was showing so much emotion.

"It's how I know I have you," Fang's voice came out a mere whisper now, "that I would suddenly catch your eye out of the blue and they'd light up, brighter than Christmas lights. It felt like I had all of your attention just in that gaze. And when I look at you I expect you to look back."

"Why do you expect me to look back?" asked Max just as quietly.

"Because it hurts," his voice was confident but shaking, his dark eyes lit with the fires of his inner thoughts that he's always kept silent, "that the person I love doesn't look back. Knowing that they're looking right at me without looking, knowing I'll never see your eyes will light up again…"

"Wait." Fang looked up at the confused tone, Max was staring straight at him with blank eyes but furrowed brows telling him she was confused. "It hurts because I can't look at you because you love me."

"Well, yeah…" Fang blinked.

"You love me." Max pointed in the direction of Fang, winding up a few inches off, and then back at herself.

"Yeah…" He blinked once again, seeing Max smile wanly.

"If only I could have seen you say that…" Max trailed off, her eyelids half closed in mild disappointment, a disappointment that forced away her happiness.

"I wouldn't be able to tell you that if you went deaf instead." Fang offered, trying to cheer Max up.

"But you could have showed it to me."

"I can still show it to you." Max felt lips press against her own, warmer than the time on the beach. She pressed back, wanting more, not caring if tears escaped her eyes.

There was a taste Max could not comprehend as she kissed Fang, it was perfect for him and the taste seemed the same as the scent she loved to breathe in everyday. It reminded her of something, something sweet and sad, something pure and lonesome…

It reminded Max of the ocean and of the sky, it reminded Max of blue…

* * *

Wait for it, wait for it... BLUE?! How could that remind Max of blue! Yep, I'm expecting a ton of reviews like that... I'll explain it later on in the story. Oh yeah, a new writing style, what do you think? 

I don't feel like doing a challenge today... sorry...

Preview:

**Delicate Girl**

_Fang leaned against the doorway of the empty house he had found watching Max. Max was sitting beside Angel on the floor, nodding her head as Angel told her what colored crayon she was holding. On the floor there between the two was a large coloring book, one page Angel had colored and the other Max had. Max's was filled with scribble and it looked obvious a two year old had done it while Angel's was neatly colored and had a lot of pink._

_ Fang gazed sadly as he saw Max lift up a blue crayon between her long fingers and held it over her head. "Max, that's blue." Angel said gently. Max nodded, her clouded brown eyes as emotionless as ever._

_ "I know," replied Max, bringing the crayon closer to her nose, "it reminds me of someone." Fang's brows furrowed in curiousity and witnessed Angel do the same._

Reviews are greatly loved :D

Adieu  
_** Nightwing**_


	2. Delicate Girl

Okay, letting you guys know, really bad chapter... T.T Le sigh, I've run out of things to say to my Goth Faerie so I suppose I'll stop leaving special things for her until she suprises me with her really long and talkative reviews...

Please enjoy :)

* * *

**_Blind_**

**_Delicate Girl _**

_Every color has a story to tell... _

* * *

"There." Fang tilted his wings, spiraling down to a small house in between several trees in a dense forest. Max held onto Iggy's hand as Iggy followed the gesture, thinking wryly to himself, the blind leading the blind… what a thought. 

"Wait here, Nudge come with me." Ordered Fang as the flock stood at the edge of the forest lining the house. Max's grip tightened in Iggy's hand and he knew what Max was feeling. She felt helpless because she was blind, guilty because she couldn't help, mad that she couldn't protect, jealous because Nudge could, and sad because she could no longer be the things she was.

"Do you know what it feels like now?" Iggy asked in a quiet low voice Max could only hear. Her grip tightened on Iggy's hand in as she looked in his direction in confusion. "To be left behind." She dropped Iggy's hand, her face as expressionless as her eyes.

* * *

"WOAH! They have a huge living room and everything!" Exclaimed Gazzy when he entered the house with the flock. A TV was set up with a musty mustard colored couch in front of it. A kitchen stood behind it followed by doorways leading to bedrooms. 

"There are three bedrooms so Angel and I'll sleep together, Gazzy and Iggy can share a room, and I guess Fang and Max can share a room not that that'll be weird 'cause you know-"

"I'll sleep on the couch." Fang cut Nudge off but Iggy was already grinning ear to ear at his thoughts.

"No, that's okay, I don't mind sharing a bedroom with you, I mean, not unless you mind it." Max gazed blankly at the doorway to the left of the kitchen as Fang stood at the right of it.

"I don't mind, it just might be easier…"

"Just let her share a room with you, she might need some help doing things." Said Iggy seriously but his expression told Fang otherwise.

"Thank you Iggy, at least someone here understands." Max nodded, Iggy hid a laugh.

* * *

"Better mood?" asked Fang, watching Max dust off the covers in the master bedroom upstairs. 

"A little." Max nodded. "Does it bother you?" Max looked in Fang's general direction.

"What?" Fang cocked his head a little in confusion.

"That I can't see you, that I can't look back…"

"I don't think that's the issue anymore." Fang was gazing at Max's movements on how they were different than normal, her body language screamed that she was scared. "You're scared, why?"

"When am I not scared?" Challenged Max. "We're on the run from Erasers, I have a voice in my head, we have to take care of the flock and I can't do that anymore, and now I'm going to be left behind!"

"What are you talking about Max? You aren't going to be left behind." Fang stared incredulously at Max. "I'll always be here for you!"

"I'm like Iggy now, when I lose all of you, I'll lose myself, you can't always be beside me Fang. The only thing I can be sure of now is who I am and even then, that's not a lot to go on." It was silent in the room for a moment. "I want to go downstairs, it sounds like Iggy's making lunch." Fang took Max's hand and helped her from the bedroom and down towards the stairs.

It must be frightening for her, thought Fang, the sudden change and a set of new worries set on her. A darkness that won't cease, noises you can never see happen, it must be torture, just like when she was in that tank. She is so delicate right now, Fang noticed, feeling her fingertips shaking in his grasp, I need to make you strong again.

* * *

Fang watched as Max fiddled with a radio, trying to find a radio station with a decent song on it. He watched her frown as noise seemed to drown the radio. Iggy was clattering with pots and pans as Gazzy asked how to make certain foods, Nudge was talking to Angel as Angel laughed when Total yipped loudly when he caught a tennis ball Angel would throw constantly. A frown had found its way to Max's lips before her blank eyes lit up all at once, hearing a song she was all too familiar with, and the music cut through the loud noise all the way to Fang's ears, piercing his heart. 

_Dark blue, dark blue, _

_Have you ever been alone in a crowded room,_

_While I'm here with you?_

Fang saw a sad smile reach Max's lips at the words. His fingers curled into a light fist. How lonely is the darkness around you, Max? He thought to himself. Is it all the more lonely because you can hear but not see? Does it feel like you're missing out on something?

* * *

"Every color has a story, you know that?" Iggy asked late that night. The younger ones had gone to bed, Iggy was sitting in a chair matching the mustard colored couch where Max and Fang were sitting. 

"I know blue." Max replied, pulling her knees to her chest, thinking of the crayon she held in her hand earlier that day.

"That's funny 'cause that's the only one I've forgotten. Refresh my memory." Iggy smiled slightly.

"There's the sky and ocean, both blue and both in love. Long before the Earth was made the sky was an angel and the ocean, a devil's minion. This angel was one of God's favorites, and the minion the devil's. It was the day God decided to create the world when the devil sent the minion to destroy what God was creating and the angel was sent to protect.

"The minion and angel met and fell in love at first sight but the minion continued to do his job, the angel unaware, and when God had finished creating, he had declared the world too small and sent it close to the sun, it became Mercury.

"The minion and angel met in secret, in a place that was separated from heaven and hell. Their love deepened as so they could not live without the other. It was when earth was formed did God find out about this love, he was angered and felt his angel betrayed him and had been tricked but the angel defended the minion which angered God more. God declared it was a love not suited for heaven and banished the angel. He watched the angel and minion love and he could not stand it.

"But the devil and God could not stand it, their favorites had betrayed them and so The devil made the angel become the sky, so the angel could be as close to heaven as she could but far from the minion. And God banished the minion from hell and made him the ocean, the earth creating the space between them so that the two could never touch. The pure white sky cried, raindrops falling into a blackened ocean. The ocean overflowed and brought life to the dry land with the black water. After time the black water turned as blue as the tears sent down from the sky and the sky turned blue from its sadness.

"They're happy that they can see each other everyday but sad that they are trapped so far away." Max fell silent, thinking back to her kiss with Fang. Yes, she thought, it was exactly like that, that kiss was exactly like the story.

"I remember now because the story of blue connects to most of the color stories."

"I don't remember this." Fang mumbled, gazing between the two blind people.

"No, you wouldn't," Max began, "Jeb told it to Iggy and I overheard it. Jeb told the stories so Iggy could imagine the colors better, so he wouldn't forget what it was like to see."

"This is completely off track, why are we talking about this?" asked Fang.

"It's not," began Iggy, shaking his head, "it is the fact that we used to see that these stories are important. Every color is a symbol of an emotion or action of a person place or thing. The fact that I can differentiate inanimate objects from animate objects is because of this, and this will help Max get used to everything."

"But how will telling stories decide what's going to happen with the flock?"

"It'll help find out how long it'll take for me to get back on my feet but we already know who's going to be leading the flock in the mean time." Max looked blankly at Fang. "Iggy has to teach me to deal with this-" she waved a hand over her eyes, her expression pained as if not wanting to say the next word, "blindness." She looked down. "So you'll have to lead the flock, Nudge could help, I'm sure of that. The flock just needs time, Fang, we all need time to adjust to this." She waved her hand over her eyes again.

"It's time we don't have." Muttered Iggy under his breath. Fang sent a glare Iggy's way. "Hey!" Iggy threw up his hands defensively, "I'm stating a fact, we're on the run from Erasers, we just blew up another School, White Coats are after us too, not to mention, the second we slip up the press'll be all over us and hunting us down. We don't have time!"

"We've never had time." Max's voice silenced the room, Fang looked ready to hurt Iggy and Iggy look frustrated. "But you wouldn't be freaking out like this if you didn't have wings! If you grew up with that family in New York or wherever it was, you wouldn't be complaining about this! So why don't you just go back there? I bet they'll be so happy to take you back." Max nearly spat out happy, her tone clearly aggravated. "Just deal with it." She let out a frustrated sigh. "That's all I'm asking, no complaints, grin and bear it, Ig. We've got a long bumpy road ahead of us."

"As if it weren't already long and bumpy." Iggy muttered under his breath again. "The potholes are getting bigger."

"I know," Max sighed, "the sooner I adjust to this, the sooner we're gone, so Ig, what's the next color?"

* * *

"Max, I found some coloring books!" Angel exclaimed excitedly as she seated herself on the floor in the middle of the living room. 

"Really? Can I color?" Max stood from the stool and made her way to Angel, bumping into the sofa and coffee table several times until Angel leading Max to where she was sitting.

"This color is…" Max trailed off picking up a crayon, "pink, like the Angel…" Max whispered to herself.

"Yeah! Are you sure you can't see?" Angel arched a brow and Max still gazed blankly ahead.

"I'm sure." Max smiled gently. "besides, what's this color?" Max held up a black crayon.

"Black." Max nodded putting it down and grabbing another one. "That's white." Max grabbed another, "purple."

"And this one's red, right?" Max picked up a half broken crayon, Angel nodded before her eyes widened at her mistake.

"Yep!" She chirped and saw Max's expression turn sad. She was a little late…

* * *

Fang leaned against the doorway of the empty house he had found watching Max. Max was sitting beside Angel on the floor, nodding her head as Angel told her what colored crayon she was holding. On the floor there between the two was a large coloring book, one page Angel had colored and the other Max had. Max's was filled with scribble and it looked obvious a two year old had done it while Angel's was neatly colored and had a lot of pink. 

Fang gazed sadly as he saw Max lift up a blue crayon between her long fingers and held it over her head. "Max, that's blue." Angel said gently. Max nodded, her clouded brown eyes as emotionless as ever.

"I know," replied Max, bringing the crayon closer to her nose, "it reminds me of someone." Fang's brows furrowed in curiousity and witnessed Angel do the same.

* * *

_Why is it so much harder for all of us. You seem so distant because you're blind and at the same time I don't know what I can say without the chance of setting you off... _Fang watched Max fumble with the zipper of her wind breaker. _There are parts of you that you're now revealing, parts I never would have known because you always lock yourself up... Does it feel like you're exposed? That since you can't see, you can't see the prying eyes you want to keep away..._

* * *

"Hey Max," Iggy popped his head into the upstairs bedroom, "your training starts tomorrow." Fang noticed the grin on his face. What exactly was this training Iggy had planned?

* * *

Chaper Two is finished. Ugh, sadly put together but I had no idea how to end the chapter. So, this was the boring chapter, emphasis on the boring. The coming chapters SHOULD be more interesting, 'specially since the training starts. :evil look of happiness: any suggestions for the story are welcome :D 

No challenge boys and girls.

_**Mini-Preview:**_

_"If you're colorblind, it just means you're relying on sight too much because when you're blind, you can see all the colors of the rainbows." Iggy stood a few feet away from where Max was sitting. "In fact you can see more than that but that's besides the point." Max heard his boots crunching against the fall leaves. "Listen to the stream nearby, what's the automatic color that comes to mind?"_

_"White." The word escaped Max's mouth without thinking._

_"Why not blue or green?" Asked Iggy. Max remained silent, thinking on how it connected. How was this supposed to help her with her training anyway? _

Adieu  
_**Nightwing **_


	3. Whistle

Sorry it's so late! I was busy or rather, I still am busy! I have half days and quarter days, as in I take one final and go home instead of two. Right now I should be studying for my Physics final for tomorrow but I'm not, I'm getting out of my writers and artist block. This block has been here for almost a month and it was on the verge of killing me. I'm serious.

PS. Ms. xxApocalypsexx, I'll have you know I am legally blind, my depth perception is shot without my glasses and even then it's not so good. I've had the blind simulation it didn't bother me much 'cause it's not much different from when I'm not wearing my glasses, everything is just a blur without them and I can't tell what anything is. I have ventured around my house, eyes closed and found myself wishing that air was a substance I could lean on instead of falling through. I hate it when I can't wear my glasses for someone always has to lead me around and I feel helpless, it makes me nervous too for I am always afraid that someone will leave me and I can't find my way back. You don't have to be completely blind to know what it's like...

please enjoy!

* * *

_**Blind **_

_**Whistle **_

_ Are Promises meant to be broken?_

* * *

"Up, up up!" Iggy's voice broke through Fang's sleep causing Fang to open his eyes. Iggy was shaking a curled up Max violently and she was protesting heavily. Iggy grabbed Max by the wrist and dragged her out of bed while opening an upstairs window. "Out you go!" Iggy said cheerfully as he shoved Max out of it.

Max shrieked and the next thing Fang knew he had leapt out the window and was cradling a confused and blinder than ever Max.

What a way to begin the day.

"What are you trying to do? Kill me?" Max shouted as Iggy sat on the window ledge.

"Not at all." Iggy smiled, knowing Max couldn't see it. "Fang, if you'd let go of Max now, that'd be great. I'm pretty sure becoming blind didn't affect her ability to flap her wings but then again, what would I know, I've only been blind for eight years."

Fang slowly let go of Max as she unfurled her wings, they floated beside each other, unsure what to do.

"Come on Max, time for training, you can worry about breakfast later." Iggy jumped from the ledge, grabbed Max's hand, and led her into the forest. "We'll be back in the afternoon, Fang." Their flight was silent until Fang got out of ear shot.

"To be blind is a very sad thing." Iggy whispered to Max. He felt her quickened pulse through her fingertips, she was scared. He began to descend, Max gripped his hand tighter. "Being left in the darkness figuratively and literately. Most of the time we are set on the sidelines deemed delicate and fragile because we're missing one of our five senses. Do you want to be that porcelain doll, Max?" Iggy's feet gently touched the ground as Max slipped on the leaf covered ground, falling on her back with a resounding thud.

"What part of me has ever been fragile?" Max snapped at Iggy as she forced herself to a kneeling position. "What part of me has ever been a porcelain doll? What part of me has ever been-"

"Blind?" Silence ensued and Max seethed with anger. "What part of you has ever needed a savior? What part of you cries at night? What part of you is scared? This is the blind part of you, figuratively and literately. The part of you that's left in the dark, the part of you that goes against your nature, how you were raised and born. That's the part of you. Right now I'm trying to make that side of you nonexistent. You can never be blind if you can truly see."

"What kind of crap is that? What's with all the philosophy all of a sudden?" Apparently Max wasn't a morning person, then again, being thrown out a window could make someone upset.

"Just listen to me. If you're colorblind, it just means you're relying on sight too much because when you're blind, you can see all the colors of the rainbows." Iggy stood a few feet away from where Max was sitting. "In fact you can see more than that but that's besides the point." Max heard his boots crunching against the fall leaves. "Listen to the stream nearby, what's the automatic color that comes to mind?"

"White." The word escaped Max's mouth without thinking.

"Why not blue or green?" Asked Iggy. Max remained silent, thinking on how it connected. How was this supposed to help her with her training anyway?

"Because it's soft like a cloud or Angel's feathers. It's calm and innocent. And the leaves beneath your shoes are brown like dead trees and leather. You are an amber yellow just like Fang is a deep blue like the one we saw at the ocean – I'm sorry, you never saw the ocean…"

"There should be a center of it the color, it should be either orange or gray. Like a diamond. What color?"

"You're orange but the leaves and the stream are gray…" Max frowned.

"Good. You're getting the hang of this."

"I'm not getting the hang of anything!" Max snapped. "You're asking for colors from me!"

"You're getting everything from me! You just told me whether or not I was alive!" Iggy was excited.

"What?" Max's eyes widened in shock at the words.

"In every living thing the flame of life burns in them and when the flame goes out all that's left is ashes." Silence followed as the words sunk in. "In any training we start off small, you're beginning to identify what things are, alive or dead or the symbol of themselves. Do you remember the story for yellow?"

"Yeah."

"You're one step closer to knowing me now. For now, lets go exploring, I want to know what you see." Iggy grinned.

"Okay seriously, this philosophy crap, I really don't want to hear it, I don't want you to become the next Plato or whatever. It's annoying the hell out of me, even the sight stuff."

"And now you must suffer what I suffer, 'Oh, Iggy look at this! Iggy, you gotta see this! Man if you saw that it would have been epic!' blah blah blah." Iggy helped Max to her feet, pushing her ahead into the forest, refusing to lend a helping hand.

* * *

"So let me get this straight… this is a whistle." Max stared blankly at Fang as they sat at the counter, the younger kids sleeping, Iggy cleaning up the kitchen as Max and Fang sat drinking hot cocoa. Max twirled the small silver object in her hand, ignoring the lanyard attached to it. 

"Blow on it if you need me and I'll be there in an instant." Fang nodded. Iggy snorted as he dried a glass.

"How romantic!" He cackled. "That is ridiculous, don't even bother glaring Fang, I can't see it."

"You can't always hear it." Max mumbled, her hand closing over the small object. "What if you don't come?"

"I'll come." Fang promised.

* * *

"He's a liar." Iggy stated the following day, skipping rocks against the nearby like the stream fed from. Max turned her head at his voice. She was fingering the whistle Fang gave her. 

"What?"

"Promising to save you when you blow that whistle, impossible. You can't save someone from the darkness they cannot be freed from. And if he goes deaf, what then? We'd just be one big disabled happy family, huh?" Iggy glared at the lake.

"Don't say that," Max chided, "that's not fair, just because you've been blind longer-"

"Well is that whistle being fair to you?" Iggy interrupted. "That thing prevents you from learning, from becoming strong, from becoming yourself. It doesn't matter if I've been blind longer, it just means I took the road less taken, and you! You have me, I'm teaching you how to stand on your own and soon enough fight on your own!" Max saw the amber yellow tinge red with anger. "What I'm not trying to teach you is how to be a pansy and sit on the sidelines like the porcelain doll you said you weren't!"

"Fang's not treating me like a porcelain doll!" Max argued. "He said he'd be here for me if I needed him, that's it!"

"And then you're slowly going to need him until he becomes your walking stick, your seeing eye dog or whatever crap it is." Iggy snapped.

"You're wrong!"

"WHO ARE YOU GOING TO BELIEVE MAX?" His voice made the forest still, even Max's blank eyes grew wide in surprise at his anger. "The one who knows you better than anyone else right now or the one that can see thinking he's helping you out?" Iggy seethed.

"And if I think they're one in the same?" Max asked quietly.

"Then you're a bigger fool then I thought you were. You're too weak to be blind, ha! And you're supposed to be the great leader Maximum Ride! You can't handle being blind, you need someone holding your hand. I'm not here to baby you, Max. In fact, I don't think you're even worth teaching anymore." Iggy began walking away from the lake, his footsteps echoed through Max's ears as they crushed the fall leaves.

"You'll have to tell me what it's like when he doesn't come. Good luck fending for yourself." Iggy waved Max off, knowing she couldn't see it.

I'll be fine, Max thought to herself, brushing the leaves from her pants, I'll prove him wrong.

* * *

Max coughed at the suffocating air, it tasted and smelled like gas but the world became a blinding gray where no other color could penetrate through. It was like a suffocating hand over her mouth, choking her every breath. She could feel the forest ending and the vibrations of smooth land just barely in front of her. Cars were around but where? She could tell by their smell, their taste, their sound but she could not see them nor could she judge their distance or where they were. They were passing by so quickly but where? 

Iggy hid behind a tree, feeling the vibration of every step Max took, seeing her color clouded with confusion, and waiting with a heavy heart for her to learn the hard way. Being blind is harder than it looks… so much harder…

One more step, where does the road begin? Silence fell upon the road, where did the cars go? The stench hung heavy but there was no sound and only faint vibrations… With an unsure hand Max brought the whistle to her lips, biting down on the tip with her teeth. Will the cars come again? What kind of road is this? The crunching sound of leaves stopped and Max felt the smoothness of the road beneath her shoes. She found the road!

What was that sound? It was faint, which direction was it coming from? It sounds like a bee, what is it? Was it a bee buzzing close to her ear? Max's heart thudded loudly in her chest.

_SCREEEEECCCHHHH!!!!_

_FWEEEEEETTTTTTT!!!!!_

How long has Max been lying on the ground? She can't feel her body but it feels like an eternity. Every time she breathes the whistle sound comes out. She's stopping traffic now, there are scared voices and she has no idea who they belong to. She can't see anything but gray, it bothers her, she misses the black, she misses blue, and even the amber yellow she was mad at. Tears are escaping down her cheeks, they won't stop falling, the tweets of the whistle are becoming feeble.

He's not coming… Max realized, the whistle falling from her mouth, he couldn't hear her… the tears fell faster…

* * *

Oh the drama! Gah! Where's Iggy? Erm, well, I'll get to that, eventually... like when Finals are over. Be thankful I get off of school at 11 for the next two days. So I finished this about two seconds ago so don't hate me, and just tell me if I have mistakes and I'll correct it. 

**_Preview:_**

_"At first I was excited," Iggy began quietly, "I get to show you my world without all the pain and suffering I had to go through but by the end of the first day, even with 'showing you' all the colors you couldn't understand. There was the frustration of how the colors have absolutely nothing to do with teaching you how to live safe. But I remembered you weren't in that darkness in the school, you didn't see an experiments flame die, you didn't fail the White Coats experiments, getting burned or almost fatally wounded because you don't have to learn that quickly. When it comes to a matter of seeing death in the blind sight you realize that everything I taught you wasn't pointless crap. To see death in darkness, that light at the end of the tunnel, makes you want to live so much more. There is more to the world than black and white, after all, we live under a polkadotted sky." Max's eyebrows furrowed slightly in confusion. A polkadotted sky?_

Adieu  
**_Nightwing _**


	4. Polka Dotted Sky

Updating before school starts again... Augh. Wish me luck, I'm going to be in a class with kids about two years younger than me, I'll be lucky if there's someone my age.

P.S. **roughdiamond5:** I'm sorry that you're sorry! Please don't be sorry, I'm not asking for sympathy for being blind, it doesn't bother me so it shouldn't bother you. On the bright side, I'm not afraid of the dark anymore :D Thank you so much for your review.

* * *

**_Blind_**

**_Polka Dotted Sky _**

* * *

Iggy gagged at the copper smell of blood mixing in with exhaust, he gritted his teeth as he ran out to the road, ignoring the peoples protests as he shoved through the circle around Max, scooping her up in his arms before running back the way he came. 

"Someone stop him! She's critically injured!"

"Fang?" Max whispered.

"No, Max, I told you he was a liar." Iggy shook his head, listening for the stream and waiting to see a blur of white in the never ending brown. He set her down beside the stream, pulling his pack from behind a nearby tree and emptying its contents onto the forest floor. His fingers fluttered across her skin, seeing nothing but purple. Every nerve in Iggy's fingertips felt each vessel and vein of her skin and how they were attempting to function properly. Where did the pulse get weaker? Where did it get stronger?

Iggy dumped ice water on Max's skin, she shivered and moaned out in pain. He frowned, he hadn't meant for her to get that hurt. Light bones weren't made for getting hit with a car speeding at seventy miles an hour. To do that was complete idiocy, like falling off the top of the Empire State building with the wings tucked in. Yeah, completely stupid. He winced when Max flinched under his careful fingers.

Calm her, Iggy's mind pleaded with himself as he pulled out another roll of gauze, calm her.

* * *

It hurt, I didn't even want to open eyes, afraid of how much that would hurt when I could barely breathe, it's not like the world would change if I opened them, I still wouldn't be able to see. All around me I see purple, what does purple mean? It hurt, every time Iggy tightened a bandage or touched an open wound I can't help but want to curl into myself. 

What was that sound? Soft music that betrayed the stream and at the same time it was so sad… I wanted to cry more but I had run out of tears. It was distracting, the music that was being hummed, the thought of pain was driven from my mind, the only thought was to listen and breathe, listen and breathe.

* * *

Fang was going to kill him. 

There was no doubt about it, the second he stepped inside that house, Fang was going to murder him. If Max woke up soon, maybe he wouldn't be in so much trouble but Fang would still kill him in his sleep.

She was purple like a bruise, injured on the inside and out. If Fang knew her color he might do more than just kill.

* * *

Purple, that story was left out… purple… what is purple? It is sad like blue but it is like red, filled with anger and love. This pain is purple… but what is purple? But blue is here too… I smell the cold winter scent, I can taste the spring rainfall, feel its pressure upon me, and I can see it at the edges of purple.

* * *

Iggy snuck in through the window, setting Max gently on the bed and locking the door in a swift motion, no doubt everyone would smell the blood soon, he frowned in distaste realizing he had long ago adjusted to the copper smell. 

"Iggy!" Fang was already banging on the door. Iggy glared in the direction of the noise, he had locked the door only three seconds ago, Fang couldn't have been waiting for them, could he? "What happened to Max? Let me see her!" The pounding increased.

"No!" Iggy yelled over the pounding. "I won't have a liar look at her!"

"A Liar? Stop being stupid and let me see her!"

Iggy heard Max shifting, uncomfortable at the noise. "Stop it, damn it!" Iggy threw his fist at the door. The door shuddered before falling still. "She needs rest…" Iggy leaned his head against the darkened door as he spoke in a softer voice. "She needs to be away from anyone who can see… away from you… What she needs now is to heal, yes she's hurt, Fang, and yes, she's unconscious… Just, take care of the flock, do what you do best and I'll do what I do." The other side of the door fell silent.

"…The flock still needs dinner…" Fang began in a quiet voice after a while.

"You can cook just as well, just, just let her be, she'll be fine." Iggy heard Fang's boots slowly shuffling away from the door. He breathed a sigh of relief and pulled a chair beside Max's bed. Max shifted a little, trying to break herself from the blinding purple.

"At first I was excited," Iggy began quietly, "I get to show you my world without all the pain and suffering I had to go through but by the end of the first day, even with 'showing you' all the colors you couldn't understand. There was the frustration of how the colors have absolutely nothing to do with teaching you how to live safe. But I remembered you weren't in that darkness in the school, you didn't see an experiments flame die, you didn't fail the White Coats experiments, getting burned or almost fatally wounded because you don't have to learn that quickly. When it comes to a matter of seeing death in the blind sight you realize that everything I taught you wasn't pointless crap. To see death in darkness, that light at the end of the tunnel, makes you want to live so much more. There is more to the world than black and white, after all, we live under a polka dotted sky." Max's eyebrows furrowed slightly in confusion. A polka dotted sky?

"What are you talking about?" Max moaned in a quiet whisper.

"A polka dotted sky, haven't you seen it yet? A purple sky with dark blue polka dots? Greenish-gray clouds, with an inverted rainbow. Have you seen it yet?"

"No, you're an idiot, Iggy. No such thing exists, let me sleep."

"You're the one who began this, if you remained unconscious this would have never begun but since you asked, I have to let you know."

"Do I have to?"

"Yes." Max fell silent and Iggy felt her eyes on him. "Dinkles, you should remember him, that guy who said he 'took care' of me. He got annoyed at me one day, I remember his scolding tone, his color was a reddish-purple and it made me just as annoyed. He said 'there is no such thing as double-V only the letters that have been in the alphabet for centuries. Just like you play the music in the correct music written. There is only white and black! Nothing more! It's impossible to have something more!'" Iggy paused for a moment before scoffing, a small smile reached his face. "There were two problems with what he told me, one was I couldn't read, the other, well, who can believe what a White Coat says anyway? So why can't there be more than black and white? Does the sky always need to stay blue? Back then I always thought the sky was black because we had never been outside before. Max, the polka dotted sky is freedom, a chance to save yourself from darkness, a place to say I can do this when others say it's impossible. So while you're sleeping, try and find that place, okay?"

"Mk." Max mumbled as her eyes dropped and her breathing evened.

* * *

"Only purple." Iggy cursed silently as he sat on the sofa that night, Fang across from him. "She's only purple." 

"What's wrong with her?" Fang asked at the same volume, attempting to keep his apathetic gaze.

"You didn't come that's what!" Iggy snapped in a quiet voice. "Your damn whistle ruined it for her, I was helping her and you – YOU – had to lead her astray!"

"What do you mean by that? I was keeping her safe!"

"Apparently not because she called for you, she blew the whistle as hard as she could and you didn't come."

"I was battling Erasers! Angel sensed them nearby and I didn't want this place to be found. I would have gone to Max in a heartbeat if it weren't for those Erasers."

"Liar. You're a liar." Iggy glared. "Your heart is beating too fast for that to be the truth. You were out of earshot and I'm not surprised. It's not like you to lie, why?"

"I didn't think-"

"Exactly, you didn't think. You didn't think giving Max that whistle would give her any harm, you didn't think she would get hurt so soon, you didn't think that Max trusts you more than anyone, or that trust would make it harder for her to learn. You didn't think, Fang! That's why she's hurt!"

"And what about you? Where were you during the accident?" Fang snapped, annoyed at Iggy trying to guilt trip him.

"I was trying to find her." It wasn't a complete lie, he had been looking for Max until he found her about to step onto the road. "I got to her as the whistling ended and took her away, bandaged her wounds and took her here." Silence fell over the room.

"You've forgotten the School…" Iggy began a few minutes later. "You've forgotten the darkness, the feeling that no one could escape, the feeling that you could only depend on those _**exactly**_ like you." Iggy paused to let the word sink in. "Imagine, even though I've been free of that place for years, not included being recently captured, I've never truly escaped it. Not the darkness, the feelings, the trials, and the pressure. None of it has changed. Now I have someone exactly like me and she needs me, she can't depend on anyone else. She needs time to heal, I know we don't have much of it, after all, what doesn't kill us only makes us stronger." Iggy quietly stood up and left towards Max's room upstairs.

* * *

I wonder if she's seen it yet… Iggy wondered while holding Max's hand in his, his thumb gently resting on her wrist, letting her calm pulse soothe him.

* * *

Fax or Miggy? Ah ha, I didn't even think of Miggy until someone mentioned it. Well, I'll keep that a secret. Who recognizes stuff from _It's A Concept_? I really do love Iggy. Iggy should win an award for being the blind kid. Augh, I need to update that and a bazillion other of my stories, c'mon brain, work! School starts in about 3 days, on a Tuesday... it sucks 'cause my vacation (which 'started' on the 20th of December) has yet to start. I've been taking care of a brat who's seven years old, can't talk correct, pees on the toilet seat making sure I clean up after him, and seriously does EVERYTHING in his power to make me on the verge of yelling at him. But I can't do that because he's my aunt's little angel that can do no wrong even though he's a freaking ahole to her. My cousin is such a job, I'm not kidding, he's so bad I take pride in making him angry at me 'cause he knows he's done something wrong. That's probably bad of me but I mean well, that kid could rob a bank and my aunt would find a way to justify it so he could see no wrong in his actions. Seriously, I haven't been this pissed off since I tried to go against my parents three or four years ago and tried to listen to heavy metal. 

Getting totally off subject. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I apologize for my very heavy rant and I thank you for giving me your time to read that.

_**Preview:**_

_Iggy's humming again, it's funny, when he hums I can concentrate, when he's not I can't hear or think of anything, it's like a pressure or something. I can't move from my bed just yet but Iggy brings me stuff to learn, it gets really annoying sometimes just sitting here seeing nothing but brown and purple. Though the surroundings go away for a while when Iggy has me 'meditate' He throws out colors for me to see in my head and I tell him what it reminds me of, he helps me when two colors seems too alike. Iggy stopped humming and I felt the suffocating pressure again. _

Adieu  
**_Nightwing _**


	5. Colors

I've got a mascot for this story! O.o, crazy I know. Makmay04! I think she's special, reviewing 3 times for one chapter and reviewing my other stories saying 'update blind!' hehe, She makes me laugh. Just to let you guys know, I know how this story is going to end. You'll never guess how it ends 'cause I'm grinning ear to ear with it.

P.S. No school tomorrow!

* * *

**_Blind_**

**_Colors_**

* * *

It's very quiet, the deafening silence where everything is so white. I hate white… it means it's light outside and there's nothing to see. There's soft music coming from somewhere but the music has too many gaps, the white is filtering through, the blinding white. 

"Stop it, Max. You're making your wounds worse." Only then did I notice I was moving around on the bed. My mind processed my body hurt and my heart ached, Fang wasn't a liar, was he? I lay still, listening as Iggy moved away from me only to make a clatter and come back. "You're still purple."

"What is purple?"

"Bruised, hurt, loved and hated at the same time." Iggy mumbled, lifting my arm. His skin felt cold against mine, I shivered. "Sorry, I left the window open last night and forgot to close it." He was here last night? I winced as he tightened a bandage and then slowly eased me into a seating position. His fingers worked fast, like butterfly kisses against my skin, replacing the gauze and cleaning the wound with such skill I forgot he replaced them.

"Where's Fang?" I mumbled out, Iggy hesitated while replacing the bandage on my head.

"I told him it was better if didn't see you." Iggy mumbled back, unwrapping the gauze and setting it somewhere on the bed.

"Why?" I protested, lurching forward, my voice was on the verge of yelling. I fell back and felt Iggy catch me, my head throbbed and I wound up leaning my head on Iggy's chest in a vain attempt to stabilize myself. "Why won't you let him see me? Can't I see him?"

"Max… it's not that easy."

"Of course it's that easy! This is Fang's room too! Just open up the door, let him in!" I snapped, wincing as my head throbbed more. I gritted my teeth, the pain was on the verge of unbearable.

"Of course it's that easy," Iggy chuckled quietly, "but it's not like Fang's going to see you when he can't forgive himself for being a liar. Of course he'll see you if you want him to but it's not like he can be normal, he'll be stained a foreign color, he'll no longer be blue. You like him best when he's blue." It was a statement, a fact, of course he knew.

"What would his color be?" Iggy lifted my head from his chest, applying alcohol to the aching wound. I hissed.

"Magenta."

"And that means?"

"Why don't you guess?" He chuckled sadly, finishing the last of the gauze.

"Embarrassment? Hatred? Ashamed?"

"Good job, all of the above." He patted my head gently and I glared in his direction. "We're going to go back to step one, since you can't take even a step at the moment," I felt him grinning. "And I'm going to bring some stuff here." His hand slid away from my head and I heard a flutter of wings until… silence.

The deafening silence was overwhelming, hurtful… I had to do something to keep me busy.

Blue was Fang's color, the smell of rain falling, the taste of the ocean, the cool feeling of snow on the skin, and the unrelenting pressure of the waves beating down the body.

Brown was Death… why? Wasn't brown nature? No, I get it now. Death is nature, when trees die they remain brown, dirt is brown, everything becomes brown again. Brown is the sound of death, the rasping voice, calloused and harsh, it has a cold touch, like knives lain in a freezer before being stabbed with it, and it smells like autumn leaves, the musty smell of goodbye…

Amber yellow or marigold yellow, like the crayon, was Iggy, warm and safe. The scent of freshly baked bread, the warmth of fire on a cold day, and the taste of Dr. Martinez's chocolate chip cookies. This color is the color of smiles.

White… White is pure and undefiled but it's also sinister… it bubbles with laughter, but what kind? Is it the laughter of innocence or the joy of death? It's a numbing feeling that comes from white. Very numbing…

* * *

I opened my eyes slowly, soft creaks of the wooden floorboards told me someone was walking around. I had drifted off while thinking; I heard a deep breath and a voice began to sing. 

_"Touch your face  
Make sure that you're alive  
Your hand finds that place  
Make sure it's beating inside._

_In this darkness there's nothing to see  
Nothing at all  
Not even you or me  
I don't know you  
Nor you me  
So we can never be together  
And play the game: family_

_I don't know the muffin man  
Nor do I know an orangutan  
Or do I know who I am  
'Cause I can't see me._

_I wanted to live under that sky  
Where green and gray clouds go by  
A place where no one lies  
I want to live under a polka dotted sky."_

"Iggy?" I whispered. The song reminded me of purple, I looked in Iggy's direction and saw purple fading to magenta all the way to his warm amber color.

"Oh." Iggy's voice was disappointed. "You weren't supposed to hear that."

"It doesn't bother me…"

"It does, your heart's beating so loud." I saw a black line create a thin smile in the middle of the amber. "Do you honestly think I think this family is a game?" A laugh followed, a bitter laugh.

"You don't think you exist." I whispered, sitting up slowly, hearing the sheets rustle beneath me. "You think you have to make sure your heart is still beating to make sure you're real, that our life is just a dream." Iggy took a couple steps closer, his amber a painful purple now, I urged the lump in my throat away. "If this was a dream it's a crappy one!" I suddenly yelled. "Just 'cause you can see in that dream doesn't mean you can go!" I lurched forward once again, grasping Iggy's shirt, preventing him from moving. "You're real, Iggy! I saw you! The flock still sees you! We're not a game! We're not a game!" I felt warm tears streaming down my face. "Don't play around with us if you think we are." My voice dropped to a feeble whisper.

"I never said you were a game. It just feels that way sometimes. Let's choose teams, who gets to rescue Angel? Who gets to scout for a new place? Who gets to go shopping for food? Always last. It's you guys who play me."

"What are you-?"

"I wake up so many times at night, just to make sure you guys don't leave me behind… I'm not the 'Q' in Scrabble, that when it goes missing no one cares. Yet there are so many times I swear I'm that Q." I watch as the purple suddenly faded away to the beautiful marigold yellow, the black smile appeared again and Iggy's hands pulled mine away from his shirt.

"I've brought you back some things to figure out." A smile was in his voice. I'm beginning to wonder about you Iggy. Maybe it's the blindness that makes everything seem clouded.

* * *

I get shaken awake a lot, Iggy says I thrash too much and make my wounds worse, he asks me what I dream and all I tell him is white. That's all I dream about. He puts on music or he sings and he waits for me to fall asleep again.

* * *

Iggy's humming again, it's funny, when he hums I can concentrate, when he's not I can't hear or think of anything; it's like a pressure or something. I'm not allowed to move from my bed just yet but Iggy brings me stuff to learn, it gets really annoying sometimes just sitting here seeing nothing but brown and purple. Though the surroundings go away for a while when Iggy has me 'meditate' He throws out colors for me to see in my head and I tell him what it reminds me of, he helps me when two colors seems too alike. Iggy stopped humming and I felt the suffocating pressure again.

* * *

Fang sat with his back against the wooden door, listening to Iggy scold Max while teaching, listening to her laughter, and Iggy singing. Max always took a turn for the worse if there was a lack of sound. Fang sighed, staring down the wooden hall, Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, and Total were out scavenging the forest for food and he was left but to do nothing and listen. He was losing her to Iggy, just because he wasn't ready to face her, just because she has yet to heal, just because he couldn't understand. 

"Okay, break time, here's a simple question." Iggy's voice was heard through the door.

"Okay, shoot."

"What's your favorite color?" There was a smile in Iggy's voice.

"Blue of course!" Fang frowned, was Iggy blue?

* * *

I have a bad feeling about this week. As in I have a feeling last year is repeating all over again. Two boys, one girl, love triangles suck. Seriously, I've been in one before, and the boys had whole groups supporting them! Freaking band and science club people. So I looked up the boy called Ethan, he wasn't my first crush but I can say he's my first serious crush. He wasn't at school and I missed him talking about his rowing team. It hurt a lot when I talked to another boy about rowing, he criticized Ethan's team, calling them jerks. So I googled him that night, yes, I GOOGLED him. And I found him, he's attending the delinquent school called Garza and he's in South by Southwest. I'm amazed. So I gave him a call, I think he still likes me and I guess it's safe to say I lost. The triangle ended when he suddenly started dating someone up north and I told my sister it didn't hurt 'cause I really did like him. So when I looked him up, I realized it still hurt. We're going bowling tomorrow, I don't know if I should be scared or not. But Edward, if you read Lullabies, I have a feeling Edward's getting close... I have a sinking feeling he likes me too. And my wild guesses are never wrong. 

_**Preview:**_

_"Lets go back there." Max smiled at both Iggy and Fang. "To the place the whistle should still be." Iggy's eyes widened and Fang stiffened. _

_"You're just now able to walk, you want to go **there** of all places?" Iggy protested. _

_"Of course!" Max grinned. "I can't stay away from it forever, I can't live in fear of a stupid road."_

Adieu  
**_Nightwing _**


	6. Laughter

* * *

Okay, guys, seriously serious news. I won't be updating for a while. I've got AP tests, section leader auditions, Drum major auditions, early start college classes, and as much as I love writing essays it's getting harder and harder to write a page. As is I (figuratively) can't wake up. My family's worried but no worries to you guys, once I know what the problem is I get better almost immediately. By the way, this inability to wake up causes me to be overly apathetic... so sorry I'm not as enthusiastic as I always am.

_So, I guess I should state this in every chapter:_ Sorry, I'm not blind. I think it'd be harder for me to write stories for you if I were. But the fact that I'm legally blind gives me an edge. Please don't feel bad that I'm legally blind, I'm growing up that way, it's how I know myself just like Iggy. My senses may be a factor due to the music classes I take, the literature I read, and the place I live. You'd never believe me if I said I liked my music to taste bitter, flowing, and a heart-wrenching color of blue with white snowflakes gracing the music so softly, complimenting the music like icing on the cake. That's my favorite type of music. And I suppose, if I couldn't read it then I couldn't tell you this now. Every color I give to personify a person or thing correlates with the color wheel and the general emotions tied to colors.

Makmay04: Dear, it's been a month and a week or so. Not two months. I updated at the end of Feb. It's the beginning of April. Chill. Ooof, my fellow filipino, do you ever tire of our food?

* * *

_**Blind**_

_**Laughter**_

* * *

I'm borrowing Iggy's Ipod, it's no big deal, it's like potty training; a way for me to be able to stand the silence. Every time I listen Iggy sets the music just a little bit softer and I can hear everything around me. I can hear Fang on the other side of the door, waiting for me to open it when Iggy's gone, the sound of birds chirping through one of the rock bands Iggy has on here.

How many days has it been since I've seen that magenta on the other side of the door turn blue? Two? Three? Maybe seven, I don't know. I slid myself out of bed, something that's become easier to do with every passing day. My feet touched the cool wooden flooring as I prepared to walked towards the door, the Ipod left behind on the bed. The white noise was suffocating but not as suffocating as before. I sucked in a breath as I headed towards the door I memorized long ago, my fingers resting on the cool brass handle. I wrenched it open and heard a thud and found myself looking at something blue on the ground. So Fang had been leaning against the door.

"Hey." I smiled, my knees folding beneath me as my strength left me. He was still blue, he didn't turn back to that awful color. I could hear his startled breathing as if trying to comprehend what was going on, truthfully I didn't know either, but the breathing was like the music, it chased the white noise away. And I couldn't help but laugh.

"What?" His voice seemed hurt by my laughter as I heard him sit up, a blue hand grabbed my own, catching my attention.

"You're not magenta anymore." I grinned. "That's a good thing, trust me."

"So what color am I now?"

"That's a total secret." And I was laughing again, laughing that he was blue, laughing that he was the color of the air I breathed, and laughing – just purely laughing – because I wasn't suffocating. I winced every now and then when my head would throb but that didn't matter, I was face to face with Fang again.

Minutes later I had calmed myself down enough to start a straight conversation with Fang. "How's everything? I mean since, you know, all that stuff happened."

"It's been okay." I watched his blue figure shrug. "A little quiet even though someone's singing all the time. Nudge is playing mother for Angel, Gazzy's been forbidden to build bombs, and Iggy's just been Iggy. You know how Iggy is."

"A little on the crazy side but incredibly brilliant." A voice joined in with my own and I saw the amber yellow at the corner of my eye. "Hey Ig-miester. Look, I got up."

"And you fell down."

"Like humpty dumpty."

"Alas, no amount of duct tape could put him back together again." I could sense Iggy's grin matching my own while Fang sat quietly beside me, an uneasy feeling around him. "So…" I drew out in a sigh.

"So what?" a pale lavender color filled my vision, reminding me of a Cheshire cat, one of curiosity. The color belonged to both Fang and Iggy but it was Iggy who spoke.

"Let's go back there." I smiled at both Iggy and Fang. "To the place the whistle should still be." Iggy's eyes widened and Fang stiffened. Iggy's warm amber turned black in a flash, disappearing and yet there was red and purple like brown just above the area of his heart where the diamond burned orange. He dreaded it, I realized, Iggy didn't want to go back.

"You're just now able to walk, you want to go there of all places?" Iggy protested.

"Of course!" I grinned. "I can't stay away from it forever, I can't live in fear of a stupid road."

* * *

"Nudge!" Max called shortly after Iggy re-bandaged her head for the last time. She sat on the bed, struggling to put my shoes on, hearing footsteps thudding up the stairs. There was a loud crash and Max held back her smile, knowing well Nudge had just tripped and fell to the floor. Max watched as Nudge stood up, her apple green color was strangely calming.

"Reporting for duty!" Nudge said a little louder than usual. Max stood, her hand on the windowsill

"You're in charge." And with that Max leapt from the window where Iggy and Fang were waiting outside.

* * *

"Hey Iggy! What's that?" Max pointed the sky as she flew upside down.

"An airplane."

"What actual color is it?" Max directed her question towards Fang. Fang squinted for a moment.

"White with blue stripes."

"Do you guys smell that? It's weird… like it's green, yellow, and blue. Did it just rain?" Max referred to the earthy smell of the forest wafting up to the sky carrying the scent of warm rain.

"Yeah." Fang mumbled, feeling obviously uncomfortable. It was awkward for him to be flying with two sightless birds who talked only of invisible colors and flew like nothing was wrong with the world when they were the ones who couldn't see. It was like the two had purposely gotten closer to make him uncomfortable. It was nerving, unbearably so.

* * *

I nearly flinched as we drew closer to the traffic pulsing through my ears. It was so brown and so purple, like peanut butter and jelly but in the bad kind of way. I shivered when we landed at the edge of the forest, the smell of exhaust suffocating once more, there was a lot of gray last time but there was an old copper smell because rain had skipped over the area. The earthy smell was in the distance, where I actually really wanted to be but…

"That's my blood." I could hear myself whisper in a calm voice and Iggy turned black once more. Fang was slowly turning magenta, could he see the whistle? "Guys, don't feel bad, it's just another learning experience."

"As if you could call this a learning experience." Iggy scoffed. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, I did and I do." I glared in his general direction hearing my heart thudding loudly in my chest. What expressions were the two wearing? Were they scared that I wanted to come back here so soon? Did they know I was terrified? Ha. Me, terrified… Looks like I am.

"Take as much time as you need." Fang encouraged me, his warm hand grabbing my own to show support. I nodded and I leaned against a tree, sliding down to a sitting position, my hand still holding Fang's hand tightly. I stared out in the direction of the smell, the sound, and color, just watching and waiting.

* * *

It was around dusk when Max finally stood again, the cars had slowed from a busy highway to the nearly empty country road it was supposed to be. "Be on the look out for cars." Max mumbled to Fang as she tugged him towards the road, her fast walk held little hesitance.

"Here." Max whispered, her hands dropping to her side as she stood on the road, the familiar smoothness. "I was here and I heard this bee like thing but it was a car or something and…" A hand reached to grab something around her neck only to find it empty. "And you didn't come." Max laughed quietly for a moment as she shook her head, Iggy stepped onto the road while listening to every moment Max made. Steadily her laughter grew like when she opened the door earlier that morning only to have Fang fall on the floor. It was so happy, so curiously happy. "I was afraid of a road, a stupid road made of asphalt all because I couldn't see! I must be an idiot."

"You've always been an idiot, my dear." Iggy pointed out with a weak grin, slightly uncomfortable with the laughter. Max frowned slightly with Fang at the word 'dear'.

"The whistle's been flattened." Fang stated, staring at a flattened piece of metal lying on the side of the road, a familiar string attached to it.

"For the better then." Max smiled apologetically, her laughter faded but her liveliness stayed with her. "I get it now, the gift and curse of sight. It's nice to live for the here and now and now dwell on the past or the future. I don't have to think about my mistakes or depend on something for the future."

"Then why are we standing here?" Iggy asked, a brow raised.

"Because I just had this epiphany, oh-wise-one." Max snapped and Fang let out a short loud laugh. "What?" Max asked, enjoying his deep blue with amber at the tips.

"You, an epiphany?"

"You make it sound like it's impossible!" Max huffed.

"But it is." Iggy chimed in. "Just like a zebra is polka dotted."

"What is it with you and polka dots?" Max glared, Iggy just grinned.

* * *

So don't forget to check out my **_All Hail The Heartbreaker _**contest in **_my profile_**. You have till the beginning of June guys, that's a lot of time. As for my life? Check out "The Nightmare" From the movie Anastasia, that's my awesome Drum Major audition. We made band history today, my band - in the history of our school - has never made a single one in UIL (which is the best there can be) and we made straight ones in concert and sightreading! Band banquet is this weekend and I don't have to wear a dress this year! Fun stuff!

Don't forget, I'm going to be busy. Like Monday and Tuesday I have a dress rehearsal and concert from three to nine in a place an hour away... Why did I offer to be the one who gets everyone food?

**_Preview: _**

_"'Kay, who set off the bomb?" Max huffed, her brows furrowed in concentration as she fought an Eraser that was white but stunk like the color brown. She kicked at it, seeing a similar one coming from behind. _

_Despite the fact she was fighting for her life she was amazed on how much she could see in the darkness that surrounded her. It was like a 360 view all around her because colors don't just disappear unless you're off guard. Luckily for Max, her parinoia was at 247 percent so the colors around her were bright, even the earth's brown was bright, and the white just seemed to glow. She could see them before they attacked from her side, behind her, above her, and - of course - in front of her. Max was still learning, that much could still be said, and Iggy was just granted the perfect opportunity on learning to fight without actual sight._

_"Sorry!" Came Gazzy's muffled reply._

_"Aim for the thinnest points!" Iggy snapped at Max unintentionally as he punched an Eraser hard enough in the shoulder to feel it cave beneath his fist. The Eraser howled in pain just in time to knocked out as Iggy struck a point on his neck._

Adieu  
**_Nightwing_**


	7. Lying

I'm back with a new chapter! Sorry I've been gone for a while, I'll update to the best of my abilities from now on! I'll be deleting some stories, maybe adding some one shots, and so on and so forth.

I hope you enjoy!

* * *

_**Blind**_

_**Lying**_

* * *

"I'M A WINNER IN LIFE!" Max shouted towards the ground hundreds of feet in the air, her wings flapping to keep her there. She was laughing and grinning because she felt free. Free… the word made her heart race.

"If you're such a winner in life, why don't you calm down a bit?" Iggy called as he flew behind her. "Tell me, what color is the sky?" She zoomed ahead.

"The sky?" Max seemed to question herself, floating in a stationed spot. "White… and royal blue… The white calls out for loneliness and the blue… the blue is calming as it mixes with the wind."

"How do you know this?" Fang asked, determined not to lose Max just yet. "I don't understand…" His brows furrowed, watching Max drift farther ahead. Would she soon be beyond his grasp? Max flew to him, listening to his flaps and grasping his hands.

"Close your eyes." Max whispered, covering his face with his own hands. "And think of the first color that comes to mind. What is it?"

"Black. All I can think and see is black."

"Well, you're sort of right. Black is everything and nothing. It's all it can ever be…"

"When'd you become so philosophical?" Fang asked, frowning at the unchanging color.

"Iggy taught me, isn't that neat?" Fang could sense the smile in her voice and he saw a warm yellow in front of him. He jerked away, his eyes shot open in shock.

"What did you see?" Max asked, her brows furrowed in worry. "You suddenly turned a yellow-white."

"A warm yellow, like marigold… You were smiling."

"You saw me smile?" Max brows lifted in surprise. Iggy floated in midair watching the two like a guardian over two children. The two were still learning his world. It was strange and yet comforting. His world was finally being broken into, it was like losing something and at the same time he was gaining something much more.

Iggy blinked, suddenly taking a giant flap to escape the blinding purple in front of his eyes. "Max." Iggy grimaced. His brows furrowed wondering how she had escaped his sight.

"You were blue… dark blue…" Max's voice was quiet as her smooth silent flaps echoed in his ears. "You're never blue."

"Max? What's wrong?" Fang's voice rang through Iggy's ears and he swallowed. Fang was blue, Iggy could never be that color, after all, all of Fang's concern was on the forever purple Max.

"Nothing's wrong." Iggy answered for Max, jerking back even farther away. "I just need air."

"Iggy, we're in air." Max stated, her tone disbelieving.

"I need black air. This isn't black." Iggy snapped irritably as he jerked himself away from an approaching Fang and dove towards an area stained black.

"You're a liar, Iggy!" Max yelled after him, her hands magnifying her voice. "Air is transparent!" Max stomped her feet in midair, turning around to face Fang. "What's his problem?" She huffed.

Fang found himself staring at Iggy's retreating figure, wondering if Iggy was upset about him talking to Max again. Fang closed his eyes, trying to imagine the colors Max spoke about and found Iggy a dark blue and emerald green, his body split in half as if unable to make a decision.

"Fang?" A hand touched his shoulder and it was his turn to jerk. "Ah, sorry. You didn't respond so…" Max trailed off, her lost blind self found its way back to her being.

"Don't be. I was just thinking." Fang mumbled. "Come on, the flock must be worried."

* * *

When we landed I felt my legs cave out from beneath me and I fell into Fang's arms, unable to stand up long enough to warn him. Fang caught me anyway and I hugged him tightly, the black settling in. Where did the colors go? Was I so upset I could no longer sense the world? Was the ground not brown and Fang blue? Blood rushed to my ears, drowning out the sound I was so desperately attempting to hear, and I tasted stale copper in the air intertwined with the rain. I slipped further, vaguely imagining Fang's attempts to keep me standing. My heart raced, I listened intently for footsteps on soggy leaves. Where were they?

"ANGEL!" I cried out, scaring Fang stiff. Oh god. She wouldn't be inside. Oh god. I can hear those heavy footsteps, the sound of a sack being dragged in the distance. Oh god. That's their blood in the air. Oh god. Oh god, oh god, oh god. I pushed from Fang, stumbling a run in the direction of the footsteps but I saw no colors and my legs refused to stand. I slipped on the rain soaked autumn leaves, falling backwards and cracking my head on a rock, tears leaking from my eyes. "Angel! Gazzy! Nudge!" I cried, sobs escaping my throat. I tried to remember their colors, their faces, their scents. I needed to find them. I needed to save them!

There was a flash of blue and I was able to see Fang's color, a burning purple, insulted, hurt, angry, sad, so many emotions stirred within his color it blinded me to the rest of the world. "They're kidnapped… aren't they?" Fang asked through clenched teeth and I could only nod, the sobs making me incapable of coherent speech.

Amber yellow flashed alongside the burning purple. Iggy was back, his anger simmering behind his playful exterior. "They're a twenty minute flight away by now. I wanted to stop them but I couldn't possibly do it on my own. Come on, lets go, knowing us we can cut it down to a five minute flight."

"Out of the question." Fang replied, a black frown appearing across his body. "Max can't fight them! She can barely stand!"

"You don't know her! If she puts her mind to it, she'll do it!"

"You don't think I know that?! It's my duty to make sure she doesn't push herself to death!" I listened to the boys arguing, forcing my tears to slow to a stop.

"Duty?! Look where your 'duty' got her! Bandaged and bruised!"

"But I got better…" My voice was surprisingly soft, as if an unwell child had spoken after surgery, but it attracted their attention immediately. "I'll be fine." I smiled and I knew I was playing unfair.

* * *

Max dove towards the color of a blinding white, noticing the color take form of several Erasers. Fang was at her right and Iggy at her left, all faces were set and determined, listening to the cries and screams coming from the ground.

As she dipped steeply into the clearing she knocked down two Erasers with her wing before one got smart and grabbed her wing, jerking her to the ground. Max cried out in frustration, reaching up to the color in front of her, fighting blindly.

She heard the sound of sacks being untied and dog crates opening and she sensed Fang in the truck behind her. His blue was overpowering as Iggy's yellow almost blocked out her senses to the left of her. She threw off another Eraser, running to the nearest white Eraser, hoping to be a successful distraction as Fang rescued the flock. She kicked it in the chest before it grabbed her by the hair. Max let out a cry of pain and frustration as she jabbed and punched at the Eraser to let go. Both of them fell to the ground, the Eraser still clutching her hair tightly. She stomped the ground from her fallen position, the color had temporarily swam from her mind, leaving her completely blind. As Max managed to stomp a body part the Eraser howled, releasing Max on the spot. With that Max jumped up, the colors returning to her sightless eyes, and kicked in the direction of the Eraser's face. She heard the crunch of the Eraser's nose breaking and jaw cracking before running towards the biggest swarm of white where she could see colors of pink, blue, orange, and green inside.

An Eraser jumped at her, tackling her to the ground, it's breath sour. Max furrowed her brows, heavily concentrating on keeping the colors before kicking the Eraser off of her. The colors were moving like wild, Max struggled to keep her balance, and promptly punched another Eraser in the face as it ran towards her. The sound of a bomb exploding reached her ears, the ground shaking, distorting the colors before her for a brief moment. Another Eraser was running towards her, the smell of gun powder was dimming its color.

"'Kay, who set off the bomb?" Max huffed, her brows furrowed in concentration as she fought an Eraser that was white but stunk like the color brown. She kicked at it, seeing a similar one coming from behind. She shook her head, erasing the smell of the bomb from her mind, focusing solely on the colors and watched as they seemed to brighten before her.

Despite the fact she was fighting for her life she was amazed on how much she could see in the darkness that surrounded her. It was like a 360 view all around her because colors don't just disappear unless you're off guard. Luckily for Max, her paranoia was at 247 percent so the colors around her were bright, even the earth's brown was bright, and the white just seemed to glow. She could see them before they attacked from her side, behind her, above her, and - of course - in front of her. Max was still learning, that much could still be said, and Iggy was just granted the perfect opportunity on learning to fight without actual sight.

"Sorry!" Came Gazzy's muffled reply.

"Aim for the thinnest points!" Iggy snapped at Max unintentionally as he punched an Eraser hard enough in the shoulder to feel it cave beneath his fist. The Eraser howled in pain just in time to knocked out as Iggy struck a point on his neck.

Max jumped over a charging Eraser, kicking its neck while in midair. She winced hearing a snap, watching the white turn brown. Max landed soundly on her back, unable to move. She had witnessed herself kill an Eraser. She had killed Erasers before but not really knowing if they were dead or not, Max had always just assumed they were just down for the count. It was scary to think colors could change in an instant if it was dead. If Angel was suddenly killed would her pink suddenly turn brown too? At the thought all color faded from her sight and she was left in pure black once again.

Max gritted her teeth and began to get up only to be slammed down by a hot and hairy hand. "Goddamnit!" Max let out a frustrated yell before the hand wrapped around her neck and began lifting her off the ground. She swung her legs forward, attempting to kick her captor but missed every time, she kicked nothing but air. Her hands clawed at the arm that held her but to no avail. Her throat tightened, two of the Eraser's fingers pushed on the pressure points just behind her jaw. Blood rushed to her ears as she struggled against the strong hand, no colors would come, no sound could be heard over the blood rushing. She gurgled out a cry before falling limply in her captor's grasp.

"We've got her, lets go!" The Eraser now slung Max over its shoulder. Fang launched himself at the Eraser holding Max knocking it to the ground and grabbing Max in one motion. Fang began running, tapping Iggy on the shoulder before making a motion to the flock to make a run for it.

"U and A!" Iggy shouted and Fang leapt into the air carrying Max in his arms. When they were flying high enough Fang surveyed the flock. Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel were a little banged up but otherwise fine. Iggy was cradling his right arm, blood trickled from his head, he had gained a black eye, and his ankle seemed twisted at an odd angle.

Max began coughing, catching Fang's attention. She groaned, her hands covering her face. "I don't know if I should feel glad or not that I didn't eat anything today. I feel like throwing up." Max moaned quietly. She stiffened, suddenly recognizing the wind in her face. "Who's there?"

"Fang." He replied through his bleeding lip. He looked at Max, she seemed to have lost something very important. "Max, what color am I?"

"Currently? I don't know. I'm trying, I'm really trying to see all those colors again. I'm looking at you right?" Max's sightless eyes stared straight at Fang.

"Yes." Fang's throat tightened.

"I can't see you. I know what color you should be but I can't see you. I hear Iggy and the flock a little farther away… I can't see them either…" Max trailed off. "Does this mean I'm blind for real this time?"

"I hope not." Iggy replied with a wince, flying next to Fang. "But they wanted you, do you know why?"

"No, not out of the ordinary reasons." Max rubbed her throat, unable to convince herself she was ready to fly. "What if… no… it can't be." She looked downcast in thought.

"What?" Fang asked sharply, his chest rumbling beside her. Max flinched slightly and Fang gave her an apologetic look despite knowing she was unable to see it.

"Jeb's the Voice and I think the Voice fried itself when I became blind. Maybe they want to fix that. Maybe they need Jeb in my head again. Or maybe they know I'm blind and they want to repair it like they did with my arm… I don't know." Iggy gritted his teeth.

"You know what I never understood?" Iggy snapped. "When they repaired your arm they never gave me back my sight. What were they thinking! 'It would be a good experiment to see how much longer Iggy can survive!' or 'Iggy's not worth fixing' or, or, or-"

"Iggy!" Fang said firmly. "We may never know why they didn't help you out and don't think for a moment we haven't been thinking the same thing! The second I found out Max's arm was healed I wondered if you had been too! Just calm down! We've lost all our supplies, we have nowhere to go, no food, no money, we need to focus on the here and now!" Fang snapped and Max's mouth fell open.

"That may have been the second longest speech you've ever said." Max said, flabbergasted.

"Face it!" Iggy snapped back, ignoring Max's comment. "You're only focusing on Max, as long as she's safe then it's okay!"

"Iggy," Max reached out in the direction of his voice. "It's not that way. Tell him it's not like that, Fang." Her voice was desperate to keep the flock together.

"That'd be lying, Max." Fang and Iggy's voices echoed together. Fang's was sad but calm as Iggy's voice echoed in a snarl.

* * *

..

* * *

Sorry again I've been gone for a while, it's just so bleh at the moment. Well I gotta go, I'm job hunting! College in less than 75 days... weird.

Oh yeah, age old question, _**Miggy or Fax?**_ It's still anyone's game. :D

Adieu  
_**Nightwing**_


End file.
